


Zeroed Out

by arashianelf



Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Timers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-06
Updated: 2015-08-06
Packaged: 2018-04-13 07:19:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4512948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arashianelf/pseuds/arashianelf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Having ten zeroes on one's wrist means finding happiness, and this is Nino's journey in finding the one that will give him that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Zeroed Out

**Author's Note:**

> This idea struck me when I was in the shower today, so I decided to write it before I lost all inspiration for it. Hope you enjoy this!

**11Y:09M:28D:37M:54S** and  **-00Y:04M:21D:34M:02S**

Nino is ten when he realizes that he has a near-eidetic memory after figuring out that he can remember things easily after a while of looking through them and looking it up online.

When he meets Masaki’s friend Jun at age 21, he notices the timer on his wrist and does a quick mental calculation on the last time he saw Ohno’s timer, and finds the numbers there to be a match.

He tells Masaki to bring Jun to a café that is close to the campus and that the two of them frequents often, and Masaki nods.

When the date that they had settled on comes, Masaki drags a complaining Jun into the café, where Nino and Ohno is waiting.

As Masaki and Jun order their drinks, collect them and sit down at the table that Nino and Ohno occupies, Jun and Ohno’s eyes meet, and a happy trill sounds from their wrists. It is nearly drowned out by the hustle and bustle of the crowd in the café, but is still audible.

As Jun and Ohno are introduced by a smirking Nino, the two start talking, and Nino grabs Ohno’s wrist when he noticed something. He asks Jun to show him his wrist, and Jun does so, eyeing him questioningly.

The pair of 10 zeroes stare up at Nino, blinking for half a minute before the timers’ numbers start changing.

They settled down on another 10 numbers (00Y:04M:19D:29M:24S), with a few seconds’ difference between the two and Nino releases their wrists, satisfied. Ohno and Jun stares down at the identical numbers on their wrists, momentarily frozen in shock, and Masaki starts bouncing in excitement.

“Can I interview you guys for my thesis? You have one more soulmate! That’s so incredibly lucky!”

On and on Masaki rattles off the questions that pops into his head, until Nino reaches over and clasps a hand over his mouth to shut him up, which Masaki does, but not before licking Nino’s palm. “Ugh, gross,” Nino mutters, wiping it on Masaki’s shirt.

Finishing his drink, Nino grabs Masaki’s and drags him out of the café, leaving the other two behind to talk and find out more about each other.

“At least no one else has to deal with you and your mess,” Nino tells Masaki bitingly.

The taller man grins at him and holds Nino’s hand properly. “I’m glad to have you as my soulmate too!”

**20Y:11M:05D:07M:48S**

Nino is one when his timer appears. He’s still too young to know what the numbers on his wrist means, but his parents are cooing over it and him, so it must be good.

He does a toddler’s equivalent of a shrug, and starts crawling to one of the toys littered around the floor. He grabs his favourite, a stuffed game console, and stuffs it into his mouth, gnawing on it.

He doesn’t know the importance of his timer yet, but he will, as soon as he’s old enough to understand the concept of soulmates.

**03Y:04M:19D:23M:54S**

Nino is eighteen when his parents finally divorce for good. They have been arguing for the past three years, and Nino is sick and tired of having to listen to his parents yell insults at each other as he tries to do his work in his room.

He starts to spend more time playing video games and doing his schoolwork, trying to minimize the time spent with his parents.

When his parents finally tell him that they are going to get a divorce, he replies with “Thank god, I can’t stand your arguing anymore. I’m turning eighteen next month, and I’m moving out immediately after, so I don’t really care who I’m going to be with for the last month of my underage life.”

He then returns to his room, leaving his parents in a shocked silence. It’s the last time he hears them arguing before he moves out on his eighteenth birthday.

**00Y:00M:00D:03M:12S**

Nino is twenty-one when he finally meets his soulmate. It’s Ohno who first notices that Nino’s timer is about to reach zero.

“Hey, Nino,” Ohno starts. “Hmm?” Nino hums, all his focus on the handheld that he is holding in his hands. “Your timer’s about to hit zero,” Ohno tells him.

“Okay. Wait, what?” Nino pauses his game, looking at his wrist. “Three minutes left,” Nino mutters, starting to look around.

For someone who has been through a soulmate couple’s divorce, Nino is a faithful believer in the true love that the timer brings.

He watches the time on his wrist slowly decrease with Ohno by his side, still walking. Therefore, he isn’t looking at where he’s going, and crashes into someone walking in the opposite direction.

As Nino looks up to give a veiled apology, he gets a moment to think, “Wow, this guy is tall,” before their eyes meet and their timers give the happy trill that everyone hears when they make eye contact with their soulmate.

Ohno quietly excuses himself, blending back into the crowd as people rush past them. There are no words needed, not for now, as they stare into the eyes of the person they’re going to spend forever with.

**-00Y:09M:23D:12M:54S**

Nino is twenty-two when Jun and Ohno meet their third soulmate. After Nino introduces Jun to Ohno, Jun is much less stand-offish as compared to when Aiba first introduced Nino to his best friend.

Of course, exchanging barbed words most of the time is their way of communicating, and Ohno watches on peaceably most of the time while Aiba giggles at some of the comments they make.

They signed up for one class together this semester, and when they walk into the lecture hall, they are greeted by the teaching assistant when his eyes meet Ohno’s and a trill sounds.

Startled, the teaching assistant looks to the person next to him, which happens to be Jun, and is stunned when a trill sounds again.

Nino leads an excited and giggly Aiba to a row in the middle of the lecture hall as the other three start talking, just as the professor walks into the lecture hall. He excuses the three of them upon seeing that they are looking at each other’s wrists and deduces correctly that their timers just trilled when they walked into the lecture hall and made eye contact.

The professor starts the lecture and Nino makes Aiba shut up by pinching him hard in his side, and Aiba settles down.

**-18Y:09M:14D:42M:36S**

Nino is forty this year, and he is walking to a café with Aiba at his side to meet Jun, Ohno, and Sho, and he can tell that despite the first half of his life in the past already, the next half will be even better.

Aiba is walking in step with Nino, and grins at him when Nino looks at him, his smile never changing. Yes, Nino thinks, the next half will be better.


End file.
